Aston Villa 3, Brentford 1: Unai Emery Dodges Unwanted Record as England Stars Shine in Dominant Win Over Bees
UNAI EMERY’S Villa sidestepped a Christmas disaster by overpowering Brentford, bringing an end to their eight-match winless run.
Emery had never experienced nine consecutive matches without a victory in over 1,000 games as a manager.
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By the time half-time arrived, he was aware that his dismal streak was over, and he had secured three much-needed points as the Bees faltered.
Brentford might excel at home, having gathered 19 of their 20 points this season there.
However, Thomas Frank‘s squad often gets trounced on the road!
They were down 3-0 by half-time as Villa ran rampant, setting their wobbly season back on course.
Blonde star Morgan Rogers – sporting a stylish new platinum look – struck gold midway through the first half with a brilliant opener.
The England midfielder received a pass from Boubacar Kamara, advanced forward, exchanged passes with Ollie Watkins, and curled a stunning shot past Mark Flekken from the edge of the box.
This was a delicious appetizer, and Villa’s hunger had clearly returned as they took advantage of Brentford’s shaky defense.
Ollie Watkins was a persistent threat and caused problems for the Bees throughout.
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Shortly before the 30-minute mark, he dashed onto Leon Bailey‘s through ball and managed to get in front of Ethan Pinnock, whose knee grazed the striker’s heel and sent him tumbling.
Referee Lewis Smith took a moment to ponder and then pointed to the penalty spot, a decision later confirmed by VAR.
Watkins steadied himself and confidently converted the penalty, and even though Flekken got a touch on the ball, he was unable to prevent Ollie from scoring for the fifth consecutive game against his former club.
Matty Cash compounded the misery with a third goal, seizing on Pinnock’s deflected header to volley spectacularly past Flekken.
Brentford argued that Watkins was offside and interfered with play by forcing Pinnock to stretch for the clearance.
However, VAR official Nick Hopton sided with the referee’s initial call, completing a dreadful first half for Frank’s team.
Villa nearly extended their lead when Flekken punched a corner from Youri Tielemans high into the air—only to have to frantically punch out his own mishap as the ball threatened to cross the line.
He redeemed himself with a superb diving save, denying Watkins’ header.
Brentford found a glimmer of pride when Mikkel Damsgaard capitalized on a Matty Cash half-clearance, cutting in on Kamara before striking the ball high into the roof of Emi Martinez‘s net.
Despite the Bees pushing forward, this was clearly Villa’s night.
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